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CHAPTER 1

The Mobilization

Jack

“Is this real?” I close the wallet over the badge and push it back toward him. I don’t know what to think right now. Darius is with the DEA?

He pockets it and takes a drink of his coffee. He says softly, “I’m undercover.”

I lift my cup and glance toward the door. The small coffee shop is deserted. Caden promised me time to talk to Darius before he comes in. That time is going to run out. “How many people know?”

“No one. You aren’t even supposed to. I’m trusting you because I know you know what’s happening in this town.” Darius leans in. “We needed an in and when the assistant coach position opened, they sent me. I’m qualified and have the experience to do the job, but my main purpose is to figure out how so many drugs go missing at the hospital.”

I shake my head. “There’s nothing you can do. You might as well go home.”

“We know it goes deep.” Darius sets his coffee down. “Tanner Lewis got caught last year with drugs. They didn’t make that go away, but he’s not the main guy. We know the police force is lax on the drug problem.”

I snort a laugh and take a drink. He doesn’t know the half of it. This town is broken and ruled by powerful men, and if they knew a DEA agent was here, they’d take care of the problem. They’d find a way to have him recalled or eliminated.

“We figured the football team would be the best place to start.” He looks down at the table before lifting his remorseful gaze to mine. “They honestly thought it might be you four.”

I narrow my eyes on him. Fuck, was I always a target? “Is that why⁠—”

“No.” He straightens. “That was a mistake. An error in judgment on my part. They didn’t key in on you guys until school started. I didn’t know you were still in high school and fuck, I was in a new town and had to be someone I’m not. I figured it’d be easier if I had someone that I could be mostly myself with.”

There’s honesty in his eyes. What we could have had echoes in my mind. It wouldn’t be anything like what I have with Harper and the guys, but it could have been mine.

“You still think it’s us?” I need to know. Is he investigating us? Because that could make shit hit the fan with the others. I can’t keep that from my friends.

He shakes his head. “Nah, there’s enough happening that it’s clear you guys aren’t dealing drugs. Besides, we tapped you for a while just to check.”

His cheeks darken in color. Yeah, I have an idea of what he might have heard.

“Are you still recording us?” If the continued surveillance is the DEA, he can make it stop, and we can stop worrying about our fathers trying to listen to every fucking conversation. It’s wearing.

He shakes his head. “We did for about a week at the start of school, but it was obvious you weren’t the problem. The basketball team, though...”

“Yeah.” I blow out a breath. We’re fully aware they’re dealing drugs but they’re careful with what they say. “What do you think I can help you with?”

“You said you had evidence.” He looks eager.

“Nothing that will hold up in a court of law.” If we did, we could get rid of Zach permanently. That’s been the goal this whole time. A way to take him down and keep him down. “We have some video from where they meet, but they knew we had a camera on them, so they kept it clean.”

Which is fucking aggravating. I should have gone back and removed the camera and planted a new one. One a lot less obvious. But I didn’t, so all that time was wasted watching the videos except for the early shit.

We did learn some things, but how much of that was planted?

“We might find something different in a review.” Darius runs his hand over the back of his neck. “We just need proof and one of the players to turn on the head of the snake. They’re young and have futures they won’t want to jeopardize. If we can get the players, we can make them give up the upper echelon of the organization.”

But if the DEA use our recordings as evidence, anything they learn from it will be fruit of the poisonous tree, even if they obtain that evidence legally.

I consider my options. I have the files we recovered from William Foster’s computer that prove he knows about the drugs at the hospital going missing. But again, when push comes to shove, they’ll get thrown out as an illegal search.

A simple investigation won’t stop William Foster, and that doesn’t take Zach out of the equation. The files implicate people at the hospital, but in the end, it might help Darius build his case.

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“I wouldn’t have told you about any of this if I didn’t think you might need help too.” Darius sits back and shakes his head. “Last night was fucked up. All you need to do is ask, and I’ll do what I can to help you.”